Nand Kishor is the Product Manager of House of Bots. After finishing his studies in computer science, he ideated & re-launched Real Estate Business Intelligence Tool, where he created one of the leading Business Intelligence Tool for property price analysis in 2012. He also writes, research and sharing knowledge about Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Data Science, Big Data, Python Language etc...
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Nand Kishor is the Product Manager of House of Bots. After finishing his studies in computer science, he ideated & re-launched Real Estate Business Intelligence Tool, where he created one of the leading Business Intelligence Tool for property price analysis in 2012. He also writes, research and sharing knowledge about Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Data Science, Big Data, Python Language etc...

5 Questions To Expect In An E-Commerce Job Interview From Glossier, Away, And VF Corporation

As an aspiring eCommerce marketing manager, you will have to be prepared to take responsibility for a number of eCommerce channels and to work cross-functionally with teams across your organization to achieve top line revenue goals. You'll be challenged to balance short-term tactics with long-term engagement strategies, maintain a pulse on a leapfrog technology landscape, and to develop robust knowledge of both the customer mindset and the ecommerce industry as a whole.

If you're interviewing for an eCommerce marketing role at a retail brand, there is a wide number of questions that you could be asked. However, here are the five questions that experts in the field think that you should be prepared to answer.

Question 1 -- Recognizing that there is only so much you can know about our business from outside the company, where can we improve the customer experience to drive value?

What I am looking to learn about the candidate: The way the candidate addresses this question tells me if he or she has done his or her research. If the candidate hasn't spent time with the product across touch points, researched where the company is in its lifecycle, benchmarked the competitive set and perhaps placed an order to experience us as customer his or her answer will obviously be much less informed.

Second, can the candidate connect customer experience upgrades to tangible performance improvement? He or she should be able to demonstrate an understanding of performance metrics and explain how the recommendations could impact the business. Third, is the candidate thinking big picture, working at a small but critical detail, or coming at the question from both angles? The candidate's approach tells me a lot about how they might fit into the team.

Question 2 -- What is your favorite example of an elevated digital experience, and why?

What I am looking to learn about the candidate: I'm interested in seeing if a candidate is digitally native and keeping track of what's new, whether it be consumer web or enterprise software-related. I really like this question because both e-commerce veterans and recent graduates can provide great responses based on their personal experiences.

A strong candidate will be able to provide a specific example of a digital experience that they found compelling and also articulate why that was the case. Was it because of innovative branding or intriguing interactive elements? Or perhaps it was due to the production value of video content or the ease of checkout? If the candidate can further explain how he or she thinks that that particular experience achieves a brand's goals (conversion, engagement, or otherwise), then they've really hit it out of the park.

Question 3 -- Based on the evolution of ecommerce and changing consumer behavior in the market, where do you see the trend moving for innovation in the industry?

What I am looking to learn about the candidate: This question will often demonstrate how deep the candidate has been entrenched in the ecommerce business in his or her current and past roles, as well as if he or she is truly in touch with the online consumer. If the candidate has a strong knowledge base, he or she can utilize the question to show off intimate knowledge of growth within the ecommerce industry, the importance of the consumer journey, as well as social media and other current traffic driving opportunities.

In addition, this would be a perfect opportunity to tout how he or she has added value with tools and capabilities to keep up with the changing landscape of ecommerce. A candidate who is really strong will also use this inquiry to show that he or she has a pulse of what's coming next. In the age of leapfrog technology, it is super valuable to have someone that doesn't just do their job, but is looking to move forward and make a name for the company through spearheading innovative projects.

Question 4 -- What are some tactics that our company can deploy to boost repeat purchase rates and increase customer retention?

What I am looking to learn about the candidate: The goal of this question is to understand how the candidate discerns and balances between short-term tactics and long-term engagement strategies. Many candidates may mention one-off promotions and incentives. Strong candidates will talk about how to balance short-term optimization tactics with long-term solvency. For instance, perhaps the brand should launch a one-off promotion, but in doing so, it should also consider the downstream impact on purchase propensity and willingness to pay.

The best thinkers will talk about the acquisition marketing mix and how that trickles down into customer behavior. Oftentimes the best way to optimize customer engagement is to leverage retention patterns to make more informed acquisition decisions. Bonus points for any mention of the metric that rules them all: lifetime value!

Cassie Lancellotti-Young, Executive Vice President of Customer Success at Sailthru

Question 5 -- Is today's push toward UGC the next evolution of SEO and is SEO dead on arrival or more vital than ever?

What I am looking to learn about the candidate: I love reading people's faces as they take in this question. It tells me pretty quickly if they know their acronyms, and the question is broad enough that a total lack of knowledge in those areas won't in and of itself make or break an interview. As with a lot of my favorite questions, there is no right answer, but you can learn a lot about how the candidate constructs an argument. Will he or she extol the virtues of user-generated content, its authenticity and dual use capabilities, or will the candidate attempt to explain why Google, smart phones and millennials have killed Search Engine Optimization. A strong candidate will string together two or three solid premises that drive his or her conclusion instead of finding a way to sit on the fence.